HEALTH IMPACT OF RESTRICTING PUBLIC FUNDS FOR ABORTION OCTOBER 10, 1977 JUNE 10, 1978

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia implemented an eight-month prospective surveillance system in 24 hospitals distributed among states with and without public funding for abortion. Out of 3,157 visits for abortion-related complications, only 10 women gave a history of non-physician or self-induced abortion and none were Medicaid recipients. The small number of hospitals located in non-funded states and the smaller numbers of women served in these hospitals than in the funded states limited the power of our study. Women living along the Texas-Mexico border appeared more likely to have complications after illegal abortions than women from other areas of the country.